


Paper Cuts

by MythicDragonRider



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Multi, This is an AU, also i'm australian don't persecute me when i ultimately make a mistake about america, and finds out about his death instead, ha, i'm a writer i don't fix paradoxes, in which annabeth didn't originally find out about magnus's homelessness, it's a lil bit after hammer of thor when they're trying to figure out how tf to get to scandinavia, let's pretend that everything went smoothly even without annabeth, probably more characters but i can't remember them all, shut up, this fanfic is mostly self-serving, wouldn't that mess up the entire timeline?, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-01 12:08:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8623951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythicDragonRider/pseuds/MythicDragonRider
Summary: Annabeth finds out about her cousin's untimely death, and is both distraught and suspicious. But, she can't identify any strange things occurring, so she decides that it would be better if she went back to New York and tried to move on with her life. But, when a prophecy calls upon the seven, they have no choice but to go to the place Annabeth was trying to avoid- Boston. (AU in which Annabeth never found out about Magnus's homelessness until it was too late)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Salutations! I'm mostly writing this fanfiction for myself, as I am not satisfied with the current state of the Magnus Chase section.  
> The timeline is really messed up as I can't find a reliable one and am not clever enough to make one on my own- if you find any mistakes in the timeline, please let me know.

Prologue

As a demigod, Annabeth Chase was uncomfortably familiar with loss in her life. She had lost personal items, close friends, and a normal life. But, she didn't really know that much about losing family- sure, she might've had problems with it (after all, she had ran away at an early age), but that didn't necessarily mean she had lost much of it.  
That's why she was so shaken when she had been informed of her cousin's untimely death. Annabeth had mostly lost all contact with him, but still cared about him very much, and didn't properly know how to handle it when he passed away. She also was informed that he had been homeless for a year, and that his mother had been killed.

Something also concerned her- the fact that his death, and his mother's, was so... ...strange. Annabeth had her fair share of the uncanny, and it was worrying to her that this strange life of hers could be effecting people she cared about, even killing them. Of course, she couldn't eliminate the possibility Magnus had gone and attracted some irritating ancient gods by himself. The Chase family seemed to be pretty good at that.  
So, she visited Boston. She attended her cousin's funeral. Nothing strange happened. She wandered around the city a little, snooping and looking for any sort of mythological phenomena going on. Nothing strange happened. After stubbornly searching for a few weeks- she had to face the facts. Either whatever had killed Magnus was exceptionally good at hiding, or it had just been an ordinary occurrence.

It didn't feel right to leave it at that, but she knew continuing the search would be fruitless. Annabeth put up an old picture of her cousin near her bed and mostly moved on with her life.  
But it seemed the predicament with Magnus was not yet resolved.

Months later, when she had mostly forgotten about it (only occasionally reminded by the picture she had put up), something occurred. Things occurring wasn't strange in her life. Strange things occurring wasn't unusual. When the Oracle of Delphi, aka Rachel Elizabeth Dare, decided to utter a prophecy, she wasn't extremely shocked. The thing that concerned her the most was the content of said prophecy.

"The same seven formerly called,  
Shall find a world, absentee, enthralled,  
The non-bound god shall speak and grin,  
The one of green shall cry and sin,

Hub of the universe, a visit in vain,  
Pride of the hotel, hurting, in pain,  
The rain will arrive at the worst time,  
The sun will be lost, darkness sublime,

A city torn by wings unfurled,  
A life lost from another world,  
Hope will stay and Summer will come,  
The night, the light, the will be done."

Not only was it concernedly gloomy, it spoke of an 'absentee', and noted 'hub of the universe'- another name for Boston.  
But, they could not question prophecies, much to their misfortune.  
\---  
Magnus Chase was unsure of what to do next.  
They were supposed to be going to stop Loki, go on a ship, all that 'wonderful adventure' that was going on in his life after he died.  
But he simply didn't know where to start. None of them did. It had been a week, and apart from hazy-eyed researched and endless, half-hearted conversations, they had barely done anything towards their goal.

So when he received a letter that may or may not have been referring to a certain quest, Magnus and his friends were too tired to suspect a trap. The wording seemed innocent enough- but the weirdest thing was that it was a letter. A full-blown, written on paper letter. In the mail and everything.  
He wasn't too sure why Valhalla had a postal address.

It read:  
"To Magnus Chase and Company.  
I believe you are having conundrum with your current quest. Unable to find out how to start it off, the methods of doing it, and such?  
Well, don't fear, for I have a solution for you. Go to the Thinking Cup and fate may be kind to you. Or not.  
Regards, an observer.'

Even if it was a trap, it was the most they had. So, Magnus, Sam, Alex, Blitz and Hearth found themselves at the cafe that had started their previous adventure off.  
\---  
The seven weren't too sure what to do next.  
They were in Boston. Apparently, something was supposed to happen, now.

Since they were impatient, and they knew trouble would easily find them, they quickly rented a hotel and decided to walk around the city for a bit, taking in the sights and looking for any mysterious circumstances. They all had their weapons on standby, of course.  
Soon, a conversation began to develop.  
Leo sighed, "I can't believe we're doing the same stuff again."  
"What do you mean?" Hazel questioned.  
"Y'know. Prophecy. Important quest. I know that's the life of a demigod, but the same people? Are the Fates losing their creativity or something?" he replied.  
Annabeth frowned, "It could correlate to the past prophecy, possibly."  
"Yes, but we don't even know what we're supposed to be doing! Couldn't they drag a different group of disgruntled demigods into this?" the Latino said.  
Just as Annabeth was about to retort, she stopped.

They were walking past a cafe, named 'The Thinking Cup'. She wouldn't have paid it any attention usually, but upon glancing quickly to it, she saw a few people loitering outside it, chatting about something seemingly important.  
And one of those people she thought dead.


	2. That Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they discover the world is a little bigger than they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!  
> Thanks for all your support. I usually don't update this fast- I go on an update rampage for the first couple of chapters, then eventually run out of steam.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. The reason it's mainly focusing on Magnus and Annabeth currently is because I wanted to focus on their reunion to start off with, and Annabeth is an easy POV. I'll try to branch out more soon.

Magnus and his friends weren't really sure what to do. They had arrived in the Thinking Cup, and they had had coffee and talked about their situation (while simultaneously looking for any Norse gods or monsters). After finishing their respective drinks, they still hadn't encountered anything. So, they loitered outside the cafe, hoping that trouble would find them, as it usually did.  
By the time it was getting dark, they were slightly worried, but held onto hope.

They were not disappointed. But, the way in which it emerged was a little… …strange, even for their standards- and for a completely different reason.  
Because upon looking up, Magnus saw Annabeth.  
And Annabeth saw Magnus.  
\---  
There were a lot of emotions occurring in Annabeth’s mind when she looked upon the face of her cousin.  
First, it was shock, then relief, then doubt, then hope. She had known it; she had known that he was alive, that he was a demigod, that he-

“Um, Annabeth? Are you okay?” Leo asked.  
Her limbs were stiff and she didn’t answer the question. Instead, she met eyes with someone whose corpse she laid eyes upon, and marched up to him.  
Her friends were rather surprised, but didn’t ask any questions currently, following her and trusting her decision (whatever it was). Magnus himself seemed shocked, along with the people surrounding him, presumably his friends.  
She knew that it could be a monster, a trap, a hoax. The fact it had been so long since his death was the only thinking stopping her from hugging him. Instead, she asked a simple question.  
“…Magnus?”

The person in question looked nervous, yet guilty, as if he had been caught stealing and did not yet know his punishment.  
By now, her friends had identified him as Annabeth’s cousin, either from appearance (the picture she kept by her bed), name, or just similarity in looks. It was rather tense, but everyone, including his friends, knew it was between Magnus and her, and were waiting for his response.

“I… Um… There’s an explanation for this… I’m sure,” he attempted to make up some excuse for being clearly alive, as he still didn’t know about her awareness of the whole mythology thing, so Annabeth cut him off.

“I know you’re a demigod, Magnus. Or at least involved in this world somehow,” she said. Of course, there was a slight possibility that there was some other explanation and he wasn’t- but the chances of that were tiny, and she could easily explain if so.

Her declaration didn’t immediately prove effective, though. He seemed confused, “Demigod…?”  
“Son of a god and a human. You never knew your father, right?”  
At this, Magnus seemed to understand.  
“Yes… But how did you know?” he said.  
“I think it’s time we talked.”  
\---  
While walking to their conversation place of choice, Annabeth’s mind was awhirl

Magnus hadn’t recognised the word ‘demigod’. Plus, at his age, he would’ve already been claimed and have gone to Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter, respectively.  
Sure, he could’ve been Egyptian (a recent concept that had recently been introduced to her and Percy, much to their shock), but there was something grating on her.  
Magnus, meaning ‘great’.  
A popular name in Scandinavia.  
Commonly Norse.  
Norse.  
Could Norse gods exist, too…?

After 3 pantheons, it wasn’t too unlikely. Plus, though she did know little about Norse mythology, she knew the bare basics.  
When someone dies a heroic death in Norse myth, they are picked up by a Valkyrie and go to Valhalla. When this happens, they become an einherji. They get another body, much similar to the one they had before.

It all fit eerily well, and she decided to ask an ambiguous ‘What god is your father’, to find out if her theory was correct. Of course, only Percy and she knew of Egyptian gods, and she probably was the only one formulating this theory, so it would shock all of them.

All in a day’s work.  
\---  
They seemed to somehow know the owner of a falafel place, because that’s where they found themselves, after hours.  
The person there had told them that Annabeth and her friends would have to pay- “I can’t just make falafel for all of your friends, Sam.”

‘Sam’ seemed to be the only girl among them, now that Annabeth thought of it. His friends really were an odd bunch, she noticed, when looking over them.

“Let’s get introductions out the way first, shall we?” asked the boy with green hair and heterochromia. He seemed impatient in a certain way, as if he was itching to get out and do something, but was unsure what to or how to.  
“Uh, right,” Magnus replied, “Okay, you already know who I am- Magnus.”  
Sam said, “I’m Samirah, but just call me Sam.”  
“I’m Alex,” the boy with green hair stated.  
The one questionably covering all his skin said, “I’m Blitz. This here,” he pointed to the blonde man with the candy-cane scarf, “is Hearthstone. He’s deaf- don’t worry, he can read lips- and I can relay what he’s saying.”  
Hearthstone nodded, signing something in presumably ASL, which Blitz translated as “Nice to meet you.”

She replied, “Okay. As you know, I’m Annabeth.”  
The rest of the demigods told them their names, and once introductions were over, they settled into an awkward silence that was broken by Annabeth, “Magnus, which god is your father?”  
He blinked at the straightforward question, and then replied with, “Um, Frey.”  
Frey was a Norse god.  
So her theory had been correct.

Percy frowned, “Frey? Haven’t heard of him. Is he a minor god or something?”  
Magnus seemed confused, “Uh, I’m not sure how you haven’t heard of him. One of the Vanir. God of peace and fertility and all that.”  
Percy began to reply, “I ha-“  
She cut him off, “Percy, Frey is a Norse god.”

The pin dropped, at least for Annabeth’s friends. They were silent, tense. Of course, it was a huge revelation- that a Norse pantheon existed, too, but since their lives were so strange already, they didn’t react in any overly shocked or confused manner. Just knowing, exhausted silence.

“Uh, I didn’t think the clarification was necessary…?” Sam’s words were cautious.  
Annabeth felt tired, “Norse gods aren’t the only pantheon in North America. The people before you are either born from Greek or Roman gods- I, personally, from Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.”

It was their turn to feel shocked.  
They stared, wide-eyed, at the seven demigods before them. But Annabeth wasn’t done, just wanting to get all the information across in one painful blow.  
“We came here after a prophecy relayed to us by the Oracle of Delphi at Camp Half-Blood, where Greek demigods stay to keep safe and train. We were told to go to Boston. Here we are.”

The others looked dazed. Only then did she make a tired mental note that they had automatically sat on opposite sides of the table- Magnus, Sam, Alex, Hearth and Blitz on one, and Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel and Leo on the other.  
The divide between them could almost be seen, splitting the table in half.

It was unbearable for both sides.

Eventually, Alex spoke up, “Fucking hell. I thought it was bad enough with one set of gods messing up our lives.”  
Leo grinned, “Both Greek and Roman gods going crazy isn’t all that fun, I’d say. We just had an incident where Gaea tried to wake up and destroy everything.”  
Magnus raised an eyebrow, “Talking of gods going crazy, about a week ago we kinda freed Loki.”

“Isn’t that the bad guy in the Marvel movies?” Frank questioned.  
Alex snorted, “Marvel has got it all wrong. First of all, Thor isn’t that awesome. At all. The whole reason we freed Loki in the first place is because he lost his hammer and made us go on a damn quest to find it.”  
“We know all about gods messing up and then making us fix their problems. Hera is a prime example of disturbing the peace,” Leo mentioned.  
Percy groaned, “Don’t even get me started on Hera. You think Thor making you find his hammer is bad? Try Hera wiping me and Jason’s memories then swapping us from Greek to Roman, and vice versa.”

The conversation continued, and all the tension seemed to have disappeared. They were taking this better than Annabeth had hoped.  
She smiled.  
She’d tell them about the Egyptians later.


	3. Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote most of this at 9PM in a frantic attempt to get it out today.

Paper Cuts Chap. 2  
It was getting late, and they decided to stop talking of such matters for the night.  
Magnus walked with Annabeth to her hotel (trailing behind the others so they could talk), and there was silence at first. Then, the daughter of Athena spoke with a small, sad smile. 

“You cut your hair, Magnus.”  
The phrase undoubtedly had much more emotional impact than immediately obvious. In fact, to anyone else, it would probably seem just like a general statement in order to initiate a conversation. But to them, it held so much more than an evident observation. 

“Yeah- I had to so I could shrink a giant’s bowling bag.”  
Annabeth smiled a bit more, “You’re going to have to tell me about your adventures.”  
“Of course. And the same for you. You’ve been caught up in all this crazy since you were 9, right? When you…”  
He didn’t finish the phrase, and didn’t have to.  
“Yes. I will. I’ve been through a lot, most of which since when Percy came to camp.”

“Ah, you’re dating, aren’t you?” he questioned.  
She frowned, “How could you tell?”  
“You just have that… Trust. That romantic trust that you can just feel with any couple” he said.  
Annabeth nodded, “Well, we have been through a lot together.”

Magnus looked slightly sad, “I missed you, Annabeth.”  
At this, she couldn’t seem to look him in the eye, “So did I…”  
Suddenly, silence reigned. They both couldn’t bring themselves to say a word. Eventually, Annabeth said, “Did you hate me for running away?”  
This caught him completely off guard, “W-What?”  
“I’m just afraid that you…”  
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. I may have missed you, and I may not have understood why you did such a thing… But I never could do something like hate you,” he clarified, nervous.

She looked at him, “Have you ever been told you’re too forgiving for your own good?”  
“Huh? Um… I guess Alex said something a bit similar once,” he replied.  
“Alex, huh? He’s really something…”  
This seemed to amuse Magnus in a way she didn’t quite understand, “Well, that’s one way to say it, I guess… Oh, you don’t know the half of it.”  
Annabeth raised an eyebrow, but didn’t pursue the topic.  
“I’m glad you’re alive, Magnus.”  
“Well, I’m not technically alive…”

She snorted and gave him a playful shove, “Fine. Then I’m glad you still can do everything someone who never died can.”  
“Hm… Well, I can’t solemnly say I never died.”  
Annabeth rolled her eyes, then realised they were at the hotel, “Here we are.”  
“Yep. Okay, see you tomorrow.”  
Magnus hugged her.  
\---  
“So you’ve died before, right?”  
Magnus blinked at the abrupt question, asked by Leo.  
“Yeah,” was the reply by the now female Alex, although the query had not been directed at her, “Same with me. We’re einherji- which basically means we died painfully so they let us go to this hotel where we die even more painfully every day.”

The son of Frey nodded, “That’s basically what happened.”  
“Okay… Anyway, you see, I died once, too, and so has Hazel here. So I’m thinking we should make a club, right? The ‘technically dead’ club. It’ll be great.”  
Alex seemed to easily take the idea in stride, “Yeah, sure.”  
Magnus shrugged, “Okay.”  
This didn’t seem to be the outcome Leo was expecting, and he looked as if he felt triumphant, “Yes! Great. Now I need to go ask Hazel.”

As the son of Hephaestus went to question Hazel, Alex smiled a little, “I’m glad they’re okay with it.”  
The Greek and Roman demigods had, in fact, been okay with Alex suddenly being a girl. In fact, they had more importantly asked how she had suddenly been in a female body, with the reply having to explain the whole daughter-of-Loki thing.  
Frank had looked shocked and muttered something like “Why do I get a curse and she doesn’t?”, and they had moved on. No inquires, confusion or loathing at Alex’s gender. It felt good.

Now they were loitering around their chosen place to meet- a quaint little park- waiting for Hearth and Blitz to arrive.  
“Yeah, so am I. It would be terrible if…”  
Magnus didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to. Alex took a sip of the hot chocolate she had purchased earlier that morning, and sighed, “We’re going to be dealing with these guys for who knows how long. Even if they weren’t accepting, we wouldn’t really have had a choice… So it’s good it turned out this way.”  
Sam noticed them and walked up. She didn’t have to say anything. They watched the other demigods converse and sat in comfortable silence.

Once Blitz and Hearth arrived, they gathered. 

“Now, let’s talk about this prophecy,” Percy said. He placed a piece of paper with some sort of rhyme scrawled onto it, presumably the famous ‘prophecy’ that had brought them all the way there.  
They read over it attentively, each line being more and more disconcerting. 

“The same seven formerly called,  
Shall find a world, absentee, enthralled,  
The non-bound god shall speak and grin,  
The one of green shall cry and sin,

Hub of the universe, a visit in vain,  
Pride of the hotel, hurting, in pain,  
The rain will arrive at the worst time,  
The sun will be lost, darkness sublime,

A city torn by wings unfurled,  
A life lost from another world,  
Hope will stay and Summer will come,  
The night, the light, the will be done

Some of the lines definitely seemed to have more meaning to Norse people rather than the others.  
“The non-bound god shall speak and grin, huh? That’s definitely Loki, if nothing is,” groaned Alex.  
Sam raised an eyebrow, “Pride of the hotel? As in, Valhalla? I don’t necessary think any of us are the pride of the hotel.”  
“Definitely not. Summer will come? Is that a Frey thing? That has to be a Frey thing,” Magnus observed.  
'Well, at least ‘hope will stay’', signed Hearthstone.  
“Gotta learn sign language,” Alex muttered, seemingly to herself.

“Okay, great. What next? We’re in Boston. We’ve found a world and an ‘absentee’. The prophecy doesn’t really elaborate,” Leo said.  
nnabeth replied, “Prophecies never elaborate. We just have to hang around and wait.”  
“Sounds fun,” Alex took a swig of her hot chocolate.  
Leo asked, “While we’re waiting, why don’t you tell us about the whole Norse thing?”  
“Oh?” replied Sam.  
“Like some general stuff. Do you have a camp like us for Norse demigods?”

Magnus frowned, “Uh, not really. Most of us just hang out in Folkvanger or Valhalla, the latter for us. You see, there, you’re basically immortal. If you die, you come back a few hours later. Hence, literally everything is done to the death.”  
“Gaming to the death. Ping pong to the death. Banquets to the death. You can’t get a good meal there without being impaled,” Alex complained.  
“Every day, there’s a battle between the einherjar to prepare for Ragnarok and all that. Every Thursday, there’s lindworms. I hate lindworms,” he sighed.  
“Well, it sounds more eventful than our camps,” Frank said.  
“Painful. It’s more painful than your camps, presumably. Unless you’re all dead. I doubt it,” drawled Alex. 

“Relax, Alex. It’s all for Ragnarok, training Odin’s mighty army that is certain to die!” Magnus exclaimed. She snorted and punched his arm.  
“I’m not a part of this, thankfully,” Sam said, “I’m a Valkyrie. Actually, the same Valkyrie that picked up these two when they died.”  
“What about you two?” Piper asked Blitz and Hearthstone, “You don’t look human…”

Blitz nodded, “That’s because we’re not. I’m a dwarf and demigod, and Hearth here is an elf.”  
“Elves are so cool! In stories, they’re all these graceful peacekeepers,” Leo exclaimed.  
Hearthstone smiled sadly, signing, 'Very different in real life'. Blitz hesitated a little before translating.  
“Really? How?” Leo questioned.  
'Would prefer not to say right now', was the response. Leo could tell he accidentally crossed a boundary, and stopped asking questions.

There was a small moment of silence, and they were about to continue the conversation.  
Then it all came tumbling down.


	4. An Early Intermisson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The curtains close even before the first act is over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been absent!  
> This is more of a character musing than an actual chapter, but I swear it's important!

Alex Fierro was complicated. Complicated in a way that didn't necessarily fit with the normal definition.  
'consisting of many interconnecting parts or elements; intricate'  
That wasn't how she really felt. Not like the feelings and hopes and dreams and beliefs really fit together, rather they were just a hodgepodge of different, contradicting ideologies that didn't make sense or properly clicked.

Alex was gender fluid. Even that seemed like the simplest part of her.  
Sometimes she felt female, sometimes she felt male. Alex changed her body regularly to accommodate this, and though she had received much horror and hardship for it in the past, she had finally found those who accepted her. Accepted her for her gender, talked to her in the pronouns she wished, didn't find her weird or abnormal. She received a lot of dirty looks at Valhalla, was avoided by some. All the different people from different times showed, a lot of those from Viking times weren't as open to who she was. But she ignored it, as she had for her entire life. Some people accepted her. That's what mattered.

Talking of the people that accepted her, she felt something complex about Magnus Chase. At first, she hadn't liked him. She expected him to be another who judged her only for her varying gender, and not how she was as a human being.  
But as she spent more time with him, she saw something else. He was compassionate and didn't care about her gender and treated her, most importantly, as a human being. Sure, the others in their little group- Sam, Blitz, Hearth- were much the same, but after the initial discovery, Magnus hadn't looked at her like she was abnormal or glanced at her with a strange look in his eyes. He spoke to her as normal, from the start.

The moment that had really done it was when she had refused his healing because she was scared he would look into her mind. But he had promised not so, and delivered on it. And then she had felt something. From a certain event in her past, she identified it, and had a sinking feeling in her stomach when she had.  
Love.

Who was she to have a crush on Magnus Chase? He was wonderful and brave and kind, and Alex was just Alex. Somehow-not-complicated-but-also-so Alex, who didn't want to think about her past because she was too damn afraid. And it just contradicted with all the other loose ends and broken cogs in her head.  
After all, love had been experienced by her before, and she never wanted to again. So she pushed it into the dark corners of his mind and tried not to think about his lips.

And then there were ever-darker things, pushed away like broken dolls. Her past, which she both ran from and tried to face at the end of the day. She was probably being too melodramatic. Alex hadn't been tortured or driven insane or anything.  
That would have been too far. But it was words like torture and anger like insanity and isolation. Tumbled and messed up and stuck in her head like the rest of the unlabeled junk.

Alex Fierro wouldn't call herself 'complicated' in the way it truly meant.  
'consisting of many interconnecting parts or elements; intricate'  
It didn't fit right.  
'consisting of many broken and contradicting ideals; intricate'  
That fit a bit better.

Because she still had something very dark inside her. It must come from a certain side of the family. She knew that children of gods didn't immediately have the traits of their godly parents, only some powers and a legacy. Her legacy was dark and twisted and she didn't want to go down it. But she was complicated. She consisted of broken, contradicting ideals. And some of them scared her, and she was certain they had been given to her by Loki.  
Loki, someone, something she despised. Her problem. Her father. Where the dark things in her mind came from.

She wondered if Sam felt the same way. Was she complicated? Not in the original definition, nor Alex's. If she had to define what she was...  
She couldn't. Because even though she knew that no-one wasn't without intense flaws, but she was always so amazing. Calm and smart. Alex tried to look beyond that. She often couldn't. Sam was complicated in a way that it was difficult to see beyond the surface.

And there was one more thing. She held a sense of isolation from her teammates. She had clearly joined this group late. They had inside jokes and secrets she didn't know about. They were all-so-complicated, she wished she could've been there to see the initiation of whatever-this-was. She wished she could properly join the group faster.  
She wished she could understand sign language.  
How long would it take to learn? Hearthstone's disability didn't stop him from being so close with the group. But in varying levels. From Blitz, first and foremost, a profound and unfathomable friendship that she knew spanned for so long. Then Magnus, trust and dependency and secrets, not as large as with Blitz, but still important. Sam wasn't too close but there was still that trust and hope.  
Alex felt like an outsider compared to them.  
She wanted to learn sign language.

She wanted to belong. But that couldn't happen if she stayed so complicated. So many contradicting parts. So many secrets. Too many secrets. She kept secrets from the bystanders. She kept secrets from the acquaintances. She kept secrets from her distant friends, her closer friends, even her best ones, though they were rare.  
And she kept secrets from herself.  
What an unfathomable creature.

Once, she had written down something on a piece of paper, many, many years ago. That paper was long gone, but she didn't let that stop her. She rewrote it and rewrote it and kept every new iteration in her pocket, and would until her dying days. Sometimes Alex took it out and read it. Last night, she had read it, for it had been one of the darkest times.

'You are Alex Fierro.  
Gender fluid, child of Loki.  
You are not defined by this.  
Secretive.  
Unfathomable.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were wondering- yes, secrets are Alex's fatal flaw. I'm not sure if they carry over to the Norse universe but I thought it would be interesting if I added them in.


	5. Seeping In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to go awry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in a while, life got in the way. Hopefully this chapter makes things more exciting.

It began when Sam got a buzz on her phone.  
She gritted her teeth and took it out, and sighed, "Sorry, I have to go. Heroic death in progress."  
Magnus pouted, "That, again? You never told me how that works-"  
"Be glad it does, otherwise you wouldn't be in Valhalla," she said dryly, then flew away. The Greek and Roman demigods stared. There were a few moments of silence.

Jason hesitantly asked, "Uh, how long will that take?"  
Magnus shrugged, "Depends on how much time the death takes."  
"Wonder who it is... If it's another child of Thor, I'm going to puke," muttered Alex. She seemed to be distracted by something, chewing on her lip impatiently.  
"Thor? Wasn't he the one in the Marvel movies, with the hammer?" Percy asked.  
They all simultaneously groaned (Hearthstone expressed his distaste by shaking his head), seemingly annoyed at the sheer mention of them.  
Alex frowned, "Those things are trash."  
"Basically, they're to Norse mythology what Disney's Hercules is to Greek mythology," Magnus noted. They understood at this, nodding their heads.  
"Also, they make Thor look all high and mighty," Blitz huffed.  
'Thor is difficult,' Hearth signed, eagerly translated by the dwarf.

The daughter of Loki sneered, "I almost got married because his ambush was late."  
"He does nothing, he only watches Netflix on his hammer," Magnus sighed.  
'He owes us favours,' signed Hearth.

Hazel smiled sympathetically, "We know a thing or two about annoying gods."  
Annabeth grimaced, "Hera, for instance."  
The Latino grinned, "Or Hera. Don't forget Hera! Oh, and also Hera."

Before anyone could continue the conversation, there was a piercing roar. This made everyone freeze in place, their minds racing through all the possibilities that could end in their painful death. What the hell could produce a roar like that? Well, it seemed the Norse knew.  
A horrifying creature landed smack bang in the middle of the park, and as the Greek and Romans hastily pulled out their weapons, Alex started swearing, and Blitz cursed, "Lindworm."  
"What the hell is that?!" screamed Leo as he tore through his tool belt for a weapon. The creature didn't seem to be doing much yet, just clawing at the ground, ripping it up, and roaring in a manner that made everyone in a general vicinity want to go deaf. Obviously, Hearthstone wasn't effected by this, and was the most level-headed as he took out his rune stones. The mortals around the place ran screaming, presumably whatever they saw was also dangerous.  
"Dangerous," gasped Magnus, "Big. Very painful death, experienced it more than once."  
"It's not even a Thursday!" Alex growled, readying herself, garrote in hand.  
"You've fought it before?" asked Frank nervously.  
"Fought, yes. Killed, no. Can't count how much these things have killed me," Magnus replied.

Before anyone could express their distaste for their odds, he reverted his pendant into Sumarbrander, who flew out eagerly and exclaimed, "Who are we killing?!"  
Needless to say, there were a few stares.  
"Oh, yeah," Magnus gritted his teeth, "This is Jack, my sword. Say hi, Jack. Also, it's not Thursday, so be careful."  
"You have a sentient sword?!" Percy cried.  
"Yep. Now's not the time for talk."

They braced themselves, and...  
The lindworm didn't attack. It could clearly see them, and was threatening them with all its capacity to do so, but wasn't really moving at all. There was pin-drop tension, everyone full of adrenaline, but it simply just glowered at them.  
"Should... We attack?" questioned Piper, nervously.  
"It's not hurting anyone, much less us," noted Annabeth.  
"We've had a few run-ins with those things, they aren't friendly," insisted Alex, "Let's attack while we can."  
Nobody wanted to follow through on her orders, and she exclaimed anger, "It'll kill us if we don't do it first!"

As they were wondering what to do, it seemed the monster decided for them. It attacked them.  
They were so startled at first, they barely scrambled out of the way of the first strike, a charge straight at the table they were at. They all dodged the clumsy attack, but the table they had been sitting was now completely wrecked. They anticipated for its next move, but when it just stood there again, they didn't waste any time.  
The Greek and Romans seemed expertly trained, probably the best of them Jason and Percy. It was clear that all of them had different styles of fighting, some going in to attack aggressively, others staying on the side planning their strikes.  
Magnus mostly let Jack do the dirty work, aiding others with their strategies. The most disconcerting part of the battle was that the monster was so placid, barely fighting back, and when doing so, it was weak and half-hearted. The way it moved was curious too, it stumbled and faltered, and was generally much different to other lindworms Magnus and Alex had fought.  
It didn't take long for it to collapse and its remains to dissipate, as monsters did. It left 10 exhausted, sweaty demigods, plus an equally tired elf and dwarf.

There wasn't celebration. They just grouped in, panting and weary.  
"Well... What was that about not attacking?" Alex groaned, which nobody replied to. Now was not the time for disputes.  
It seemed that there was only one injury, which belonged to Hazel, a gash on her side that didn't seem life-threatening, but still looked painful.  
"I'll get out some ambrosia," Frank said, starting to unzip his bag before Magnus stepped forward, "I can handle this."  
They looked at him quizzically, except the Norse, and placed his hands over Hazel's wound, eyes closed in concentration. Much to their shock, it started to glow, injury seemingly closing up. Magnus sadly noticed that she had some form of emotional pain, but didn't want to intrude, sticking to healing the physical wound.

Once it was fully mended, he opened his eyes and quietly removed his hands. Everyone but the Norse stared, and Alex had a slight grin on her face, seeing their shock.  
There were a few beats before anyone said anything. Hazel snapped out of her disbelief and stammered, "T-Thank you."  
Magnus took this as an appropriate time to step back.  
"...Are you glowing?" questioned Frank. They looked, and sure enough, there was a minimal amount of light coming from his body. Magnus nodded, "That happens when I use magic. It's more visible in dimly lit places, though."  
"It was Frey, right? What other powers do you get from him?" asked Annabeth, modestly.  
Magnus shrugged, "I can be on fire and it doesn't bother me."  
"That's my thing!" exclaimed Leo in mock anger. This lifted the mood a little.

Annabeth frowned at where the lindworm had been, "What would cause something like that to suddenly appear in a park?"  
"Not only that, it wasn't fighting like a normal lindworm. More hesitant, more clumsy," noted Alex.  
"Well, one thing's for sure, we can't stay in this park any longer," insisted Jason. They all agreed.  
"But where?" asked Piper.  
"Valhalla's only for einherji and Valkyries, mortals aren't allowed in" said Blitz.  
Magnus frowned, "Well, remember after we, uh, set Loki free? You could stay there then. I'm sure we can get a compromise. Uh... They may not be Norse, but they're still demigods, and our circumstances are rather... ...special."

Everyone hesitantly agreed, not having much choice, and started to head towards this so-called 'Hotel Valhalla'. They tried their best to get past all the results of the carnage- police cars, ambulances, news reporters- and snuck out into the less lindworm-infested part of the city. They went past coffee shops and high rises and pedestrians until they got to Valhalla.  
It was surprisingly inconspicuous, but it did have to be. The strangest feature were the high walls around it, intimidating the Greek and Romans.  
Magnus said, "We'll go in and try to negotiate. Uh, stay here. Buy food or something."  
Then, with a surprising amount of height, Magnus and Alex jumped over the walls, leaving the rest on the outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not so good at action scenes, sorry if it was terrible.


End file.
